EngineeringRemote

Staff Software Engineer, Backend

Helius · Remote

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Last seen by MeritLog September 9, 2026Source: AshbySource version: ashby-public-job-posting-v1

MeritLog read this listing from Helius's Ashby job board and last checked it on September 9, 2026.

Source: the employer's Ashby job board. Open the original listing for current details.

Job details

Work model: Remote
Salary: Not listed by source
Location: North America
Occupation: Software Developers(O*NET 15-1252.00)
Company website: www.helius.dev

What the role asks for

What you'd do

Own the technical direction for a core backend system - architecture, reliability, performance, and roadmap
Design and implement solutions to the hardest problems in your domain - distributed systems, storage engines, streaming pipelines, or edge infrastructure
Drive performance engineering across your system - profiling, benchmarking, and pushing latency and throughput to the limit
Set standards for operational excellence - observability, incident response, and making systems simpler and safer to operate
Partner with founders and engineering leadership on long-term technical strategy
Mentor senior and mid-level engineers, drive technical consensus, and influence without authority
Identify and solve complex, ambiguous problems that span multiple systems

What they're asking for

8+ years of backend engineering with a strong track record building large-scale, production-grade systemsExperience
Deep systems-level expertise - you operate comfortably at the layer where software meets hardwareSkill
Proficiency in Rust (strongly preferred) or equivalent systems programming language (C++, Go)SkillPreferred
Demonstrated ability to own and evolve complex systems end-to-end, from architecture to production operationsSkill
Experience leading ambiguous, cross-team technical initiatives and driving them to completionSkill
Performance engineering instincts - you've profiled hot paths, understood the root cause, and fixed it at the code levelSkill
High ownership, high intensity - you thrive in fast-moving environments and hold yourself to an exceptional standardSkill
Prior exposure to engineering cultures that prioritize operational excellence, performance, and customer reliability at scaleSkill
Deep expertise in one or more of: distributed storage, streaming infrastructure, edge networking, or query enginesSkillPreferred
Experience building or operating systems at petabyte scale or microsecond latency budgetsSkillPreferred
On-call ownership of mission-critical production servicesSkillPreferred
Interest in Solana, blockchain infrastructure, or real-time financial systemsSkillPreferred
Open source contributions or technical writing that demonstrates depthSkillPreferred
Mix of large and small company experience strongly preferred - you've built the habits and can operate at both speedsSkillPreferred
High-impact work: Your code will power applications used by millions across the Solana ecosystem, including Coinbase, Jupiter, and Phantom.SkillPreferred
Serious engineering: Build fast, reliable systems and user experiences across distributed infra, high-throughput backends, and modern frontend stacks.SkillPreferred
Ownership & growth: Lead critical initiatives, influence architecture and product direction, and take on more responsibility as the company scales.SkillPreferred
Remote-first flexibility: Work where you’re most effective with a flexible, fully distributed team.SkillPreferred
Competitive comp & perks: Market-leading salary, meaningful equity, generous vacation, wellness budgets, and support for learning and travel.SkillPreferred
Mission-driven team: Join ambitious builders who move fast, take ownership, and are shaping the future of decentralized apps.SkillPreferred

Parsed by MeritLog from the employer’s own posting. The full description follows below.

Job description

ABOUT HELIUS Helius is a leading developer platform on the Solana blockchain, dedicated to inspiring and accelerating the creation of crypto-powered software. Customers like Coinbase, Jupiter, and Phantom use Helius to power their applications on Solana. We’ve raised over $34m https://www.helius.dev/blog/funding-announcement from Haun Ventures, Founders Fund, Foundation Capital, 6th Man Ventures, Reciprocal Ventures, Chapter One and angel investors including Solana co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, and Balaji Srinivasan. Our team members have previously built mission-critical, scalable infrastructure at AWS, Coinbase, Stripe, Google, Digital Ocean, and more. Read our Helius Manifesto https://www.helius.dev/blog/manifesto to see how we work and what we value. ABOUT THE ROLE We're looking for a Staff Backend Engineer to take ownership of one of our core systems - Gatekeeper, Data Streaming, Historical APIs, or Account Index. These are the foundational layers of Helius's infrastructure, operating at the intersection of extreme performance requirements and real-world scale. Each system sits in the critical path of the Solana ecosystem. At this level, you're not just building - you're setting technical direction, making architectural decisions that shape the platform for years, and raising the bar for everyone around you. You'll work directly with founders and engineering leadership to define what we build and how we build it. Small team, enormous scope, and the expectation that you'll own your domain end-to-end. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Own the technical direction for a core backend system - architecture, reliability, performance, and roadmap - Design and implement solutions to the hardest problems in your domain - distributed systems, storage engines, streaming pipelines, or edge infrastructure - Drive performance engineering across your system - profiling, benchmarking, and pushing latency and throughput to the limit - Set standards for operational excellence - observability, incident response, and making systems simpler and safer to operate - Partner with founders and engineering leadership on long-term technical strategy - Mentor senior and mid-level engineers, drive technical consensus, and influence without authority - Identify and solve complex, ambiguous problems that span multiple systems WHAT YOU'LL BRING - 8+ years of backend engineering with a strong track record building large-scale, production-grade systems - Deep systems-level expertise - you operate comfortably at the layer where software meets hardware - Proficiency in Rust (strongly preferred) or equivalent systems programming language (C++, Go) - Demonstrated ability to own and evolve complex systems end-to-end, from architecture to production operations - Experience leading ambiguous, cross-team technical initiatives and driving them to completion - Performance engineering instincts - you've profiled hot paths, understood the root cause, and fixed it at the code level - High ownership, high intensity - you thrive in fast-moving environments and hold yourself to an exceptional standard - Prior exposure to engineering cultures that prioritize operational excellence, performance, and customer reliability at scale NICE TO HAVE - Deep expertise in one or more of: distributed storage, streaming infrastructure, edge networking, or query engines - Experience building or operating systems at petabyte scale or microsecond latency budgets - On-call ownership of mission-critical production services - Interest in Solana, blockchain infrastructure, or real-time financial systems - Open source contributions or technical writing that demonstrates depth - Mix of large and small company experience strongly preferred - you've built the habits and can operate at both speeds WHY HELIUS? - High-impact work: Your code will power applications used by millions across the Solana ecosystem, including Coinbase, Jupiter, and Phantom. - Serious engineering: Build fast, reliable systems and user experiences across distributed infra, high-throughput backends, and modern frontend stacks. - Ownership & growth: Lead critical initiatives, influence architecture and product direction, and take on more responsibility as the company scales. - Remote-first flexibility: Work where you’re most effective with a flexible, fully distributed team. - Competitive comp & perks: Market-leading salary, meaningful equity, generous vacation, wellness budgets, and support for learning and travel. - Mission-driven team: Join ambitious builders who move fast, take ownership, and are shaping the future of decentralized apps.